This invention pertains to a neural-model computational architecture structure, and more particularly, to such a structure which combines the significant advantages of a system employing broadcast hierarchy, as well as those of a system employing point-to-point, grid-bus communication.
In my U.S. Pat. No. 4,796,199, issued Jan. 3, for "NEURAL-MODEL, INFORMATION-HANDLING ARCHITECTURE AND METHOD", I have described a unique neural-model computational method and architecture structure which features broadcast hierarchy, and locality-of-communication dominance. This multi-communication-level system offers a unique organization of physical nodes and connection nodes which tends to maximize the capabilities and advantages of a neural-model, connectionist, computational network, through featuring a dominance of locality-of-communication performances in the way that connections (communications) take place.
The entire disclosure of that patent application is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Another kind of computational architecture, which is not necessarily based on a neural-model, is one in which a grid structure interconnects the physical nodes to permit non-broadcast, point-to-point, go-to-address specific communication. Those skilled in this field of art are familiar with the well-known workings (hardware and software) associated with such systems.
The present invention proposes a unique marriage of these two kinds of systems in a manner which offers, in a unitary system, which is a neural-model connectionist system, the special and important advantages of both.
Explaining further, in the new kind of broadcast-hierarchical, neural-model system which I describe in my above-referred-to patent application, there is one kind of circumstance which is not well handled, strictly speaking, by a rigid implementation of broadcast hierarchy. In that system, locality-of-communication dominance is achieved by structuring the system in such a manner that each connection node has preferably all, or at least a very dominant portion, of its intended connections established as local connections which use the lowest communication level bus provided in the system. Connection nodes which are intended to communicate more frequently with more distant connection nodes broadcast, typically with somewhat less frequency, over a higher level bus. And, in the particular system described in that patent application, yet a third level of hierarchical communication is provided over a third, highest-level bus which accommodates the longest-distance node-to-node, typically low frequency, communication.
In that system, one requirement is that, in order properly to implement the broadcast feature, the bus level over which a particular connection node communicates is defined by the highest-level bus which it must employ for its longest-distance connection. Thus, somewhat of a problem arises where the architecture of a system results with a number of connection nodes having a predominance of low-level, short-distance connections, along with a few higher-level, longer-distance connections. These nodes, because they must broadcast over one of the higher-level buses during the relatively few times that they make long-distance connections, nevertheless occupy the time and territory of this higher-level bus for each and every one of the much more frequent lower-level communications. Thus, a situation exists which tends to diminish, somewhat, the efficiency which that system is capable of providing.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the marriage which was mentioned above results in the use of what is referred to herein as a hypergrid bus which, in most cases, and in the particular instance illustrated herein, is connected to each and every one of the physical nodes in a system like that described in my prior-referenced patent application. This hypergrid bus is a non-broadcast structure, and specifically takes the form of a plurality of point-to-point communication buses that extend in a grid fashion between selected, adjacent physical nodes. Through appropriate programming of the system, employing techniques which are well known to those skilled in the art, under a circumstance where a connection node, which may otherwise have a plurality of high-frequency, low-level connections to make, "desires" to make one or more of its intended longer-distance, non-local connections, the following occurs: the physical node associated with this connection node accesses the hypergrid bus (rather than any one of the broadcast-level buses), and employing go-to-addressing, and appropriate routing information, directs communication from this connection node to the specific, other, distant connection node with which it needs to communicate, or to any specific point in the system.
The advantages of the marriage should be immediately obvious to those skilled in the art. Nodes which have both high-frequency (local) and low-frequency (distant) connections (communications) to make, make the former on the appropriate broadcast bus, and the latter exclusively via the hypergrid bus. These advantages, and others which are offered by the combination proposed by the present invention, will become more clearly appreciated as the description which now follows is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.